Babacar Fall

Professor Fall with students and faculty at Nazareth

Senegalese professor Babacar Fall recently lectured at
Nazareth about “Youth in Africa:
Challenges and Hopes for the Future.” A professor at the Université
Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Sénégal, Fall is also a passionate advocate for
gender equality in francophone West Africa, most recently completing a
commission with the United Nations to study youth issues. Students from Dr.
Mireille Le Breton’s class interviewed Fall on gender equality and education in
his home country.

What events in your
life have led you to become an advocate for women’s education and equality in
Senegal?

There were two things in my life that led me to where I am
now. First of all, when I was five years old I became the first member of my
family to attend school. However, my two younger sisters did not have the same
opportunity. When I asked my father, “Why is it that my sisters are not
registered in school?” he told me “School is not for girls.” That was the
beginning of my realization of the cultural constraint in Senegalese society,
which prevented girls from receiving equal opportunities in terms of gender.
Secondly, when I was in high school, I had a very good friend and classmate who
got pregnant and had to drop out of her classes. At the time, there was no
chance for her to return to school and her whole career was compromised. I
realized from her experience that there is a lack of information provided to
the youth. Unfortunately, this is still the case for many young and talented
girls, and as long as Senegalese society is not mobilizing these talents, it
cannot fully develop. This is why I think it is important to overcome these
constraints, and why I am committed to promoting girl’s education.

How were you
approached by the United Nations, and what role did you play as the Research
Coordinator of GEEP*?

During my time as a university student, I organized arts and
activities (such as guest presentations), as well as youth broadcasting
programs called “Youth and Culture.” When I became a professor, I applied these
important types of programs to involve students and organize panels in which
students were given central roles. In 1989, some of my colleagues and I decided
to set up an NGO group for “Etudes de la Population” (Population Studies) to promote
the integration of the population into the general core curriculum. Doing this
in a participatory way allows students to realize for themselves the importance
of engaging in their education. We also began to organize presentations on
sexual and reproductive health to prevent early pregnancies (the leading
restriction on girls’ high school enrollment). My colleagues and I continued
this for three years and traveled from one high school to another until we had
spread the program throughout most of the country. The United Nations
Population Fund (UNFP), the International Development Resource Center (IRCD),
along with UNESCO, National Education programs and others recognized our work
and common vision and asked to partner and collaborate.

Have you seen evidence
of substantial progress since the implication of this initiative?

Yes. A statistical analysis was published six months ago
depicting the impact of our program since its establishment. The data show that
the effects of the program have touched many professional sectors and that
those who participated in GEEP activities are better able to manage their
professional and personal lives.

How can we, as
Nazareth College students and Rochester community members, aid in the promotion
of women’s education in Senegal?

I really appreciate that Nazareth College has started to
build a bridge between the school and the community in such a variety of
actions. It might be possible to develop a bridge like this with Senegal. For
instance, I would be interested in promoting relations between Nazareth College
and a broadcasting show called “MADARO FM – The Woman’s Voice.” It is a very
important initiative undertaken by female leaders in Senegal to overcome the
cultural constraints on women’s participation within the community. This
includes an open dialogue on girls’ education. Promoting the radio show by
using blogs and websites would make its voice louder would be a wonderful initiative to reinforce the support and
technical capacity of the station.

What are your hopes
and goals in building a connection between your University in Senegal (Université
Cheikh Anta Diop) and Nazareth College? Do you think it would be a useful tool
in promoting cultural understanding and community building?

The partnership between UCAD and Nazareth College is a
reflection of shared values initiated through conversation by Dr. Mireille Le
Breton and myself. We have been trading ideas to determine ways in which we can
set up a cultural exchange. The goal is to create a link between two academic
communities. Nazareth College in the United States and UCAD in Africa have
their own academic and cultural specialized areas. This partnership would open
faculty members on both sides to identify their similarities and improve the
quality of education, while allowing generations of young people to be in
contact. It would also allow students to experience another sense of
reality. When you study Africa based
only on documents, it is much different than when you are in touch with the
community itself and can discover it yourself. By promoting a study abroad
program in Senegal, Nazareth College is making progress in the quality of its
education and promoting multi-cultural interests. As a result of this
partnership, we will be able to build mutual respect, create a more open
dialogue, and construct a partnership based on reciprocity. This is, to me, a
step forward in the progress of humanity.

*GEEP (aka Group pour l’Etude et l’Enseignement de la
Population) is a NGO based in Senegal that was established in May 1989. It
advocates for young leadership, peer education, and the participatory
integration of knowledge of current social problems.